AFOTEC's independent and objective evaluations of how well systems will meet operational requirements provide a vital link between the developer and user.

They seek to answer questions about how safe, effective, reliable, maintainable, compatible, and logistically supportable new Air Force systems will be.

The results of AFOTEC's tests, normally conducted on prototype and pre-production models, play an important role in Air Force and DOD acquisition decisions.

Deputy Secretary of Defense David Packard, the esteemed entrepreneur who favored the "fly-before-buy" approach, and Undersecretary of the Air Force John L. McLucas, who dealt with operational problems with the F-111 and C-5 transport, took the lead in defining a new emphasis on OT&E.

Several government committees, commissions, and agencies studied how to implement acquisition reform, including the benefits of independent operational test and evaluation.

Participants in all of these studies, along with an increasing number of Senators and Congressmen, concluded that the developing and using commands had become less impartial about the capabilities of, and need for, their major acquisition programs.

For example, as a Separate Operating Agency, the Center reported directly to the Chief of Staff of the Air Force as a means of ensuring independence from the developing and using commands.

The Center would provide the results of its evaluations to the Secretary of the Air Force and the Chief of Staff in support of key decision points in the acquisition process.

Another obstacle arose because AFTEC was such a small organization that it had to rely heavily on the major commands to provide personnel for test teams and funds for OT&E.

Early OT&E also played a role in ensuring the "fix-before-buy" approach had a chance to save resources by finding problems before production, thereby avoiding costly modifications to fielded systems.

As a whole, Major General Leaf's time as AFTEC commander stabilized the new organization and made it a more active participant in Air Force OT&E.

Unrest in Europe in 1989 brought the fall of the Berlin Wall in November of that year, and ultimately the demise of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War.

The U.S. Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, for example, addressed the feasibility of expanding AFOTEC's role and scope of responsibility for the entire test and evaluation process, from the initial statement of need to the last major upgrade of a system.

A Department of Defense Inspector General report used a different perspective and criticized the Air Force for not having a single operational test agency.

Retired Lieutenant General Howard W. Leaf became the first Director of Test and Evaluation in October 1991, and two months later, proposed consolidating OT&E at AFOTEC.

The Center's mission grew again on 1 October 1997 when AFOTEC absorbed the personnel and workload of the Defense Evaluation Support Activity (DESA).

While "fly-before-buy" has repeatedly proven its worth in thorough testing of systems and avoidance of later problems, the Air Force even in the twenty-first century remains severely hampered by a "buy-fly-fix" approach.

AFOTEC offers fact-based, quality data in its test reports to inform decision makers on a range of assessments of effectiveness, suitability, and whether a system is fully, partly, or not mission capable.

Later in 1991, the Air Force broadened AFOTEC's responsibilities by reassigning all initial, qualification and selected follow-on operational tests and evaluations from the major commands to the Center.

Each of the deltoids has a symbolic meaning, representing four fundamental military objectives of the United States that include: to deter aggression; to resolve conflicts on favorable terms, to achieve national objectives, and to promote a secure international environment Element Significance The four blue and gold deltoids are symbolic of fundamental tasks of the Air Force acting as an instrument of national policy.

The golden yellow segments represent the sun (directionally depicted rising from the east and setting in the west as indicated by the deltoids) and the excellence required of Center personnel.

White contrails, which trail the deltoids, signify the test and evaluation process that follows concept formulation, validation, and full-scale development of systems and equipment.

The red scales portray AFOTEC's impartial and independent assessment of a system's value when weighed against the fundamental military tasks and Air Force roles and missions.

Heraldic Description: Light blue, issuing from base four contrails palewise argent terminating below four deltoids ascending, one in dexter flank, two in chief and one in sinister flank, the dexter two or and azure, and the sinister two of the like and or; surmounting the vapor trails a pair of scales gules, all within a diminished bordure gold.

Detachment 5 performs operational test and evaluation of mobility, bomber, and command and control, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance weapon systems.

Detachment 5 has also managed operational test of the Common Vertical Lift Support Platform, the C-27J Joint Cargo Aircraft, the E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System, and the KC-46A.